Andorra bests Cedevita to keep Top 16 hopes alive

MoraBanc Andorra held off Cedevita Zagreb 78-71 on Wednesday to recharge its top 16 hopes. Andorra improved to 3-5 with its second straight win, while dropping Cedevita to 5-3. The Croatian champs would have advanced with a victory. Jaka Blazic scored 15 points off the bench for Andorra, Jaime Fernandez added 12, David Jelinek 11 and Andrew Albicy tallied 9 points and 7 assists. The hosts made 9 of 19 three-pointers (47.4%) and outrebounded Cedevita 38-30 in two keys to the game. Will Cherry paced Cedevita with 15 points, Dzanan Musa scored 12 and Demetris Nichols 11.

Fernandez started and finished an 8-0 run that gave Andorra a 15-10 lead before the visitors called timeout. Cherry got Cedevita back on track and Damir Markota buried a three-pointer to make it 17-15. Threes by Jelinek, Albicy and Blazic – the latter on the buzzer –stretched the lead to 26-19 after 10 minutes. Both teams cooled off in the second quarter with a total of 3 points scored between the two teams in the first three and a half minutes. Musa heated up for the visitors, but Blazic got going for Andorra, too, and extended the difference to 34-26. Andrija Stipanovic stepped up for Cedevita with a basket and an assist on a Cherry three that made it 36-33. A second three by the Cedevita guard from nearly the same spot made it a 1-point game. Przemek Karnowski put Andorra up 41-38 at the break.

Ivan Ramljak connected from behind the arc to tie the game at 43-43 and Roko Ukic added another from almost the same spot to push Cedevita ahead. The lead switched hands several times more in the third quarter with a Jelinek triple giving Andorra a 53-52 edge. Vladimir Jankovic added a three and Jelinek banked in a
shot to make it 58-53 through three quarters. John Shurna put Andorra up 6 with a reverse layup and after drawing a foul while shooting a three-pointer, made the ensuing free throws to establish a double-digit difference, 68-58, with five minutes to go. Jankovic and Blazic added threes as the lead peaked at 74-60. A late Nichols flurry got Cedevita within 5 with 55 seconds to go, but Fernandez iced the Andorra win with free throws with 21 seconds to go.

Head Coaches

PENARROYA, JOAN

MoraBanc Andorra

"We started the game with good defense and good shooting percentages on offense, but the most important thing for us is to limit Cedevita’s offense, which is among the leaders in the competition. They scored fewer points today and this is a success for us. At one point in the second half we had the opportunity to think about the tiebreaker, but then we lost some balls. It is a very important victory for the team."

ZDOVC, JURE

Cedevita Zagreb

"We were definitely not at our best. It seemed as Andorra wanted it more than us. We were looking for solutions, for five players to play on the floor together, but we had too many mistakes and too little concentration on the defensive rebounding and on defense. This teams should not post this many points against us, and I think we deserved to lose tonight. We have a tough schedule, but we must recuperate. We have depth on our roster, maybe we should have rotated more players today, but we went for the win. We had no other calculations, and I think that is the only right way to do it."

Players

JELINEK, DAVID

MoraBanc Andorra

"We knew that this game for us is really important. We knew we lost by a lot of points over there, but for us the most important think was the victory and I think we did everything we could to take the victory."

STIPANOVIC, ANDRIJA

Cedevita Zagreb

"I think this defeat will not hurt us, because we still have our chances and hold destiny in our own hands. After a long trip, I think we were not as fresh as in other games, but that cannot be our alibi. That’s how this and any other season is. We have to come together, correct this defeat in games to come, and continue playing like we have been playing the last two months. "